Page 138 of Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal
“Rise is my father’s son. His mother was a dog.” Eloquence gave her a moment to process that before continuing. “This was before I can remember, but Uncle Laud explained that we were part of the Starmark pack at Wardenclave then. Glint Starmark, my grandsire, gave her to my father to keep him from succumbing to grief after my mother’s death. Dad kept her close, and in the course of things, she bore him a son.”
“You … you’re compatible with animals?”
“In truest form, yes. We don’t talk about it with outsiders.” Again, he signaled for secrecy. “Reavers have always assumed our Kith to be lesser cousins, somewhere between the High Amaranthine and the Ephemera. But in truth, they are crossers.”
Kimiko tried to think how many Kith were attached to the Starmark compound. Dozens? Scores? And all of them had an Amaranthine father … or mother. “That’s a lot of mixed-species couples.”
“Not at all. Kith form breeding pairs, and their children are also Kith.”
She laughed at herself.
His gaze held sympathy. “In the early days, the first of our kind mingled more with the animals under their protection. My grandsire, First of Dogs, coupled with domesticated canines before settling down. His children by those bitches are the oldest Kith in the dog clans.”
“But that doesn’t happen anymore?”
Eloquence hesitated. “One of the ten duties given to a tribute is the care and continuance of strong Kith bloodlines. From time to time, a clan may decide to add Kith to their pack or fold. Directly.”
“Have you ever …?”
He quickly shook his head. “I’m not a Kith-sire, but some of my uncles are. Since I’ll have a bondmate, that particular duty will not fall to me. Honestly, it never would have, for fear I would sire other runts.”
“I’m not sure if I should be offended or relieved.”
Eloquence smiled. “Either of those are better reactions than we feared.”
“Oh, I’m astonished. And trying not to think about how a dog the size of a house could manage to …” She held up a hand and shook her head. “Nope. Not thinking.”
Rise barked.
“I amnottranslating that.” To Kimiko he said, “I was ten when Dad gave Rise to me. He was just a puppy, and he was my responsibility. That was also the year I began training with my uncles, learning my responsibilities as a tenth child.”
“So you’ve been together almost your whole lives.” Kimiko nodded to herself. “And we’ll always be together from now on.”
Rise’s tail thumped the ground.
Still pinned beneath his half-brother, Eloquence said, “He thinks you should kiss me.”
She arched her brows at Rise. “Is he putting words in your mouth?”
The tail doubled its speed, and hewuffed.
“Let him up so I can kiss him properly,” Kimiko ordered. “We’ll call it practice for the next formal declaration.”
Rise heaved up and settled on his haunches, freeing Eloquence.
She stood, dusting absently at her breeches. “Do we need to schedule the official kisses according to the moon?”
“I think not. Dogs don’t reverence the moon.” He slipped into the neutral posture for which diplomats were famous. “Did Hisoka speak with you about recent events?”
“No, but I saw this morning’s paper. And he hinted that there was a role I’d need to play.”
Eloquence stepped closer, took her hand. “Hisoka Twineshaft is my go-between, and he will always act in our best interest. However, he carries a great responsibility to our people—yours and mine. As Spokesperson and a member of the Five, he’s making two requests of us.”
“The first?” she prompted.
“In order to distract the media from less savory events … and to appeal to the recent craving for inter-species romances, he would like to make our courtship public.”
“Howpublic?”
